Taylor Swift‘s “Shake It Off” video was supposed to be a feel-good romp that inspired viewers to let go and have a little fun but many commentators felt the urban dance scene appropriated black culture and perpetuated stereotypes. One of the most vocal critics was Earl Sweatshirt, who called the Mark Romanek-directed visual “inherently offensive and ultimately harmful”.

Romanek responded to the Odd Future rapper’s accusations today (August 21) and vigorously defended his work. “[Earl Sweatshirt] stated clearly that he hadn’t seen the video and didn’t even intend to watch it,” the filmmaker told Vulture. “So, respectfully, that sort of invalidates his observations from the get-go. And it’s this one uninformed tweet that got reported on and rehashed.”

“We simply choose styles of dance that we thought would be popular and amusing and cast the best dancers that were presented to us without much regard to race or ethnicity,” he continued. “If you look at it carefully, it’s a massively inclusive piece. It’s very, very innocently and positively intentioned.”

You can read Mark Romanek’s full interview over at Vulture. Do Romanek/Taylor’s ‘positive intentions’ make it ok? Let us know in the comments below.